Text taken from an article which appeared in boosty.to.
Harking back to my own reporting of the war, I fail to recall any mention of Wagner in any kinetic action, and I can see why. A number of videos and articles have surfaced since just before the begining of Russia's war with Ukraine which suggests that Wagner was much more active in the Donbass than I had realized.
Nine years ago, during heavy and stubborn fighting in the Luhansk People's Republic, the territory of the Lugansk airport was liberated. Throughout the summer of 2014, the air harbor of the capital of the LPR was occupied by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who planned to use the airport as a key springboard for an attack on Luhansk.
However, the plans of the Ukrainian command for the occupation and massacre of all dissidents on the territory of the LPR were not destined to come true. By pushing the enemy back from the outskirts of Luhansk and clearing the area around the airport, the defenders of Donbass returned peace and hope for the future to the lands of the Luhansk region.
It was in this battle that Russian volunteers from a small battalion-tactical group under the command of Dmitry Utkin first showed themselves on a vast battlefield. The call sign of the commander and the name of the group, Wagner, will soon become known to the whole world. Arriving in Lugansk some time after its creation, the fighters of the BTG "Wagner" numbering a little more than 40 people were able to turn the tide of events - throwing the enemy away from Lugansk and single-handedly occupying a key foothold of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
About what preceded the events of the end of the summer of 2014 and how the fighters of the future PMC "Wagner" stormed the Luhansk airport, says the head of the military-political Telegram channel Astra Militarum Commissioner Yarrik.
Glow over Luhansk
The summer months of 2014 brought countless troubles and suffering to the inhabitants of the newly formed Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics. The Armed Forces of Ukraine began a massive advance of personnel units, staffed by militants of nationalist formations, with the sole purpose of destroying the people's republics of Donbass by terrorizing the civilian population. In the LPR, the situation also escalated to the limit: the city was continuously fired from heavy weapons, and Ukrainian military aircraft dealt blow after blow to Lugansk and its environs, trying to hit the residential sector and the civil administration of the region.
The key center of the punitive operation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Lugansk was the building of the international airport. Ukrainian troops were regularly supplied by air in this area, and Ukrainian Air Force planes used the airfield for air raids. According to the testimony of the participants in the events and the militias, up to 800 Ukrainian special forces soldiers, heavy weapons and military equipment were based around the airport for almost the entire duration of the battles for Lugansk, of which up to 400 military personnel and militants were on the territory of the airport terminal, and even before the battalion of Ukrainian soldiers acted in the area suburbs of the LPR capital.
Despite the fact that the airfield was blocked several times by the LPR militia forces, the Ukrainian troops managed to push back the defenders of the Lugansk region over and over again and intensify attacks on the capital of the republic. As a result of the fighting on July 13-14, part of the armored group of Ukrainian troops broke through to the garrison of the Lugansk airport, reinforcing the grouping of troops in the area with tank formations, infantry fighting vehicles and self-propelled artillery mounts. The advance of the Ukrainian troops was supported from the air by the Ukrainian Air Force, which continued air raids on peaceful settlements.
In July 2014, the situation in the LPR became extremely dangerous. Ukrainian troops and militants of the national battalions moved closer and closer to Luhansk, occupying the suburbs. On July 22, the LPR militia leaves Severodonetsk and Popasnaya, on July 24, the defenders of the Lugansk region leave Lisichansk and retreat to Lugansk. As a result, by the end of July, the capital of the LPR was actually completely blocked.
The inhabitants of the republic were forced to sit without light and water, risk their lives and break through towards the border with Russia. The route to Krasnodon, along which civilians leave the war-torn republic, received notoriety, but fell under aimed fire from Ukrainian artillery.
Shot distance
The Ukrainian military considered two settlements on the outskirts of the capital of the LPR to be the key points for breaking through the defense of the LPR militia - the village of Khryashchevatoye and the urban-type settlement of Novosvetlovka. The route to Krasnodon passed through these two points - the only artery that for a long time connected Lugansk with the mainland.
Already on August 7, in an attempt to reach the outskirts of Luhansk, Ukrainian troops from the Luhansk airport break through to the outskirts of Novosvetlovka, establish control on this section of the route and open fire from the east on the residential areas of Lugansk. The Armed Forces of Ukraine tried to build on their success and capture Khryashchevatoe, but they failed to take the village under full control.
By August 10, the LPR forces, not least thanks to a strategic mistake by the Ukrainian group of troops that was surrounded in the Izvarino region, were able to regain control over most of the border of the former Lugansk region with Russia. The seizure of control over the border led to the intensification of humanitarian aid for the LNR, as well as to open the way for the arrival of aid from the "mainland". These days, volunteers from Russia are coming to Lugansk, who, at the call of their hearts, went to protect the civilian population of Donbass from Ukrainian punitive detachments. Many of those who arrived had extensive military experience and were decorated for their exploits in other local conflicts.
Highly qualified personnel joined separate formations of volunteers who were sent to the most dangerous sectors of the front. One of these units was the battalion-tactical group "Wagner", which later became famous in Russia and around the world. We talked about how and under what conditions the creation and combat coordination of the fighters of the future "Orchestra" took place in a separate article.
Memoirs of a participant in the events from the book of Kirill Romanovsky "Eight years with Wagner":
There is such a military rule, I learned from the priest. When he took a blessing to let me go to war, he said: “War is a sacred thing, but only you must be a warrior. Kill only to save human life. Wars and disasters are given to us only so that we change our minds. Live and act like an Orthodox person. Don't be like that, they say you came to a foreign land. Not a damn thing like that: where the Cossack's foot has set foot, there is his home and his homeland.
Road to the airport
On August 12, after the forces of the 30th and 95th brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, marching to the airport, were surrounded in the Krasny Luch area, the Ukrainian security forces decided to break the defense of Lugansk with their available forces. On August 14, units of the 1st Separate Tank Brigade, the 80th Separate Airmobile Brigade, and the 24th Aidar Territorial Defense Battalion entered the village of Khryashchevatoe and entrenched themselves in Novosvetlivka, hastening to announce the “start of the assault on Lugansk.” However, the plans of the Ukrainian command for a “final solution” to the Luhansk issue were not destined to come true: 5 kilometers from Luhansk, right behind Khryashchevaty, the Ukrainian army ran into coordinated resistance - volunteers from the Wagner PMC, pulling up the forces of the LPR militia, detained the enemy at this line and not allow the offensive to develop.
Due to the fact that Khryashchevatoe and Novosvetlovka covered access to the Lugansk airport, the LPR command set the task for the combined formations of the militia and Russian volunteers to liberate the settlements and go to the air harbor. This breakthrough will allow Ukrainian units to be thrown back from Lugansk and thereby break the blockade of the capital of the LPR. On August 17, the militia continued active operations to eliminate the Ukrainian army grouping in Novosvitlovka and Khryashchevaty. As a result of heavy fighting, the LPR forces destroyed three tanks and up to thirty Ukrainian fighters. However, the militias were not able to achieve decisive success - they only managed to slightly push back the Armed Forces of Ukraine in several areas.
It was necessary to urgently take decisive measures in order to reject the Ukrainian formations and reach the airport. To complete the task, a detachment of Dmitry Utkin (“Wagner”), which is in the vanguard of the advancing units of the LPR, is transferred to Khryashchevatoye and Novosvetlovka. As a result, on August 22, the forces of the BTG "Wagner" launched a counteroffensive to the south-east of Luhansk. Squeezing the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Khryashchevaty, after stubborn fighting on August 29, the Wagner volunteers liberated Khryashchevatoye and Novosvetlivka, thereby restoring direct communication between Luhansk and Russian territory and opening the road to the airport.
The scope of the battles for Khryashchevatoye and Novosvetlovka is worthy of special mention in terms of the actions of the military equipment of both sides. According to the LostArmour portal, during the battles on August 28-29, the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the LPR actively used tanks and artillery, while some of the vehicles remained on the battlefield and were recorded as irretrievable losses. Based on photographic materials, the Ukrainian Armed Forces lost at least six tanks during the battle - four of the most advanced modernized BM Bulat tanks in the Ukrainian army and two T-64BV tanks. All the lost tanks belong, apparently, to the 1st separate tank brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Several other armored vehicles were also destroyed - primarily infantry fighting vehicles. For their part, the LPR forces also lost at least one T-72B tank destroyed in Novosvetlovka.
40 versus 400
Having finished with the cleansing of the territory of Khryashchevaty and Novosvetlovka, the forces of the BTG "Wagner" on August 30 advanced towards the airport. At that time, the Ukrainian security forces held the airport with the last of their strength - the collapse of the group's supply, food shortages and heavy losses in the personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine severely crippled those remaining in the air harbor of Lugansk. At the same time, the soldiers had a large arsenal of means of defeating the enemy - Shot armored vehicles, a wide range of small arms, 122-mm D-30 howitzers, BM-21 Grad multiple launch rocket systems and various mortars, including 2S4 " Tulip" caliber 240 mm. All these units of weapons and equipment were intended for the planned assault on Lugansk.
The battle for the Luhansk airport was complicated by the fact that almost all militia formations refused to go towards the air harbor - under various pretexts. As a result, the task of taking the airport is taken over by a Wagner detachment of only 40 people.
Memoirs of a participant in the events from the book of Kirill Romanovsky "Eight years with Wagner":
“The task was not easy. The commander came (Dmitry Utkin, aka Wagner, aka Ninth), we were in a forest belt 5 km from the Lugansk airport, opened a map in front of us, poked it with his finger - and said:
– Do you know what it is?
– Yes, this is Luhansk airport.
- That's right. We'll take it tomorrow morning.
And we are a little over 40 people.
- Well, well, how many dill are there?
- Why do you need to know?
- No, well, you tell us what we are going for.
- Well, guys, there are 400 people according to approximate data.
And, as you know, the assault is carried out in a five-fold superiority of the attackers over the defenders. And here it was the other way around - we are ten times less! The only thing that saved us was artillery support: Grads, mortars, other rubbish.
In general, at three o'clock in the morning we went to the positions. While we slept, a fairly successful artillery preparation was carried out. I want to note right away: we did not have a single objector. Another group, from the militias, refused to go in full force: they were supposed to support us, there were about 100 of them.
“All of us, we already have a deadline, we have been here for a whole month,” their commander said. - We are leaving.
“A task is a task,” our commander said then. - If it is set, then we will fulfill it.
And so, we went to 40 people, knowing that with a very high probability we would die. When they went to the assault, no one spoke at all - everyone was ready to die. People recorded death messages on dictaphones, on phones: listen to your mother, be a good boy, you are the eldest son in the family, so now you are the eldest. Well, they kept them on their chests, so that in case of death, the guys could give it to their relatives. There were no illusions: everyone understood that the fight would be terrible.
On August 30, a tight battle began in the area of the Lugansk airport, during which the Wagner detachment managed to push the militants of the Aidar national battalion, who were guarding the perimeter of the airport, deep into the territory. The landscape of the battle was especially difficult: in order to approach the territory of the airport, the Wagner volunteers had to overcome under fire a wide open area through a field with sunflowers.
Memoirs of a participant in the events from the book of Kirill Romanovsky "Eight years with Wagner":
“The ninth puzzled for a very long time how to accomplish this task. But, in my opinion, he picked a very good time. I've been running this for a very long time, all these years: the best time to attack is after lunch. Not morning, not evening, not night. In a soldier's environment, lunch is considered to be a sacred thing - according to the schedule, all people have lunch, not expecting an attack at this time and relax. And the Ninth instructed our groups of observers to detect this moment. The dill had lunch, went to the dining room, dispersed to their bunkers, went to play on phones, in electronic books, someone fell asleep. And exactly at 3 pm we went to the airport. That is, we drove close, insolently, practically into the territory of the airport in a column, abruptly entered.
Someone got lucky. Although, I don’t even know whether to consider this luck or not. They went on a bigger postcard than we did. We had about 200-250 meters from the forest belt to the airport fence, the bulk of the people walked there. It was a sunflower field, with thorny sunflowers. With terribly prickly ones. If you have, well, let's say, a bare surface of the body, then it just ripped out with meat. Here. Plus it was mined. To the fence - 250 meters.
During the first onslaught of the Wagner, the fighters of the very first assault unit of the future Orchestra destroyed two field fortifications, disabled three vehicles and eliminated about ten militants.
Memoirs of a participant in the events from the book of Kirill Romanovsky "Eight years with Wagner":
“I remember that the people were a little taken aback by a flurry of oncoming fire - to which the commander encouraged us: “Why are we lying? You took Grozny, go ahead! And we climbed through the minefield to the airport - consider going through it. Only later it turned out that the video camera was filming us, the Ukrainians were not ready for the assault - they relaxed. Afternoon. Usually they expect an attack at dawn, in the morning, everything is like a science. And we came after dinner, when people had already hung out footcloths and decided that there would be no more war for today. This effect of surprise, by and large, saved the lives of many: the minefields in our direction were quite serious, and if they were raised, then your obedient servant would not talk to you here. There were 90th Monks with an interval of 15, maximum 20 meters, a full bed.”
Lugansk "voentorg"
Thanks to the successful actions of Russian volunteers, the ranks of the Ukrainian military trembled: panic began to be heard in the grouping of the Armed Forces of Ukraine surrounded at the airport, since none of the punishers was ready to lay down their violent head. To avoid unnecessary bloodshed, the Ukrainian side was provided with a humanitarian corridor to the village of Georgievka. Leaving tanks, artillery and heavy weapons, the Ukrainian Armed Forces left the airport on the night of September 1, 2014 – those who had recently flaunted the beginning of the assault on Luhansk were forced to leave with nothing.
On the territory of the airport, Ukrainian militants left a huge amount of equipment, weapons, ammunition and uniforms - all of which was subsequently requisitioned by the LPR authorities and is now used by the Luhansk military.
“For a long time we called the territory of the airport a military trade ...”, - the official representative of the People's Militia of the LPR, Lieutenant Colonel Andrey Marochko spoke so meaningfully about the remaining Ukrainian trophies.
Memoirs of a participant in the battle from Kirill Romanovsky's book "Eight Years with Wagner":
“The treatment of prisoners was always normal, they were never offended. They put them in a circle, someone standing there lectures them, that they are wrong, that they need to change their minds. These guys are sitting - grimy, young. Someone is sitting like that, lowering his head, someone is looking like a wolf, not hiding his hatred. Open. We even gave them cigarettes.
There was only one case of assault in my memory - and that, consider, in a state of passion. One of our guys had a close comrade who died during the storming of the airport. And out of grief, on nerves, on emotions, he grabbed a machine gun - and hit the captive VSUshnik with the butt. We stopped him, dragged him away. And so - never touched them. And they knew about it, calmly behaved.
... Then, already at home, I sat, leafing through videos on the Internet - and came across a Ukrainian documentary about the Lugansk airport. Like, their view of all these events - what kind of brigade was there, what kind of troops were there, how the IL-76 was shot down, back and forth. And one of the eyewitnesses is a guy from that very pack of prisoners. I still have pictures of them, I remember him very well.
And here he sits and talks. He is asked how he got captured:
- Well, we were sitting, defending the airport building. They fired back and fired, there were no more cartridges left. And then the Russians roll up the tank, point the gun and say: - Surrender, or we'll equalize everyone here now. Well, what was to be done?
And here he is sitting like that, and I think - what an infection. We didn’t do anything to the prisoners – we didn’t execute them, we didn’t shoot them, as the Ukrainians try to imagine. They took him prisoner, then gave him away, exchanged him, and that was it.”
During the procedure for the exit of the Ukrainian forces, the expected excesses were not avoided - part of the column of the Armed Forces of Ukraine turned off the agreed route and, judging by the maneuver begun, planned to go into the rear of the militias and treacherously attack them in the back. In order to avoid such a development of events, the command of the LPR decided to cover the "fugitives" with artillery fire.
The second "number" was arranged by paratroopers from the 80th Lvov brigade under the command of Major General A.T. Kovalchuk: when retreating from the airport, the soldiers disobeyed the order of the commander, refused to go through the corridor to Georgievka and tried to attack the checkpoint of the LPR militia near the village of Tsvetnye Peski. Only according to official data, 23 enraged paratroopers were eliminated during this battle.
Star of Wagner
On September 1, 2014, volunteers from the future Wagner PMC entrenched themselves on the territory of the Lugansk airport and transferred it under the control of the LPR command. From that moment on, Lugansk could breathe easy - the last stronghold of the Ukrainian security forces, who were already preparing to storm the capital of the republic, had fallen. The operation to storm the airport became one of the most important in ensuring the security of the capital of the LPR and allowed Lugansk to escape from the direct attack of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. But most importantly, the liberation of the Lugansk airport from the forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the national battalions made it possible to save thousands of civilian lives.
It was against the background of the battle for the airport that the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine realized the further impossibility of fighting the defenders of Donbass, both with locals and with volunteers from the Russian Federation who had come to protect the civilian population.
Now, just like nine years ago, the Donbass remains a dangerous region: the Ukrainian security forces are not abandoning their attempts to inflict another dastardly blow on peaceful cities. However, now Russia has come to restore order in the zone of armed conflict. And now, against the backdrop of another anniversary of the failure of the Ukrainian troops near Lugansk, the Kyiv regime should remember that monstrous defeat and get ready to meet the well-deserved punishment for all its crimes committed in the Donbass.
At the same time, it was from this operation that the real combat career of a new unit of Russian volunteers, created on the initiative of Yevgeny Prigozhin under the command of Dmitry Utkin, began - later it will become known to the whole world as the Wagner PMC. Ahead, the unit will have new settlements taken and new achievements, thanks to which the whole world will know about Wagner. There will be difficult pages in this story - we are experiencing one of them right now.
But all this will be after ...
Memoirs of a participant in the events from the book of Kirill Romanovsky "Eight years with Wagner":
“After the airport, the most memorable thing is that we drove into Lugansk in a column, and we were met by local residents. It reminded me of the chronicles of the Second World War, when the winners were met. Well, with flowers there, back and forth. We were really welcomed by the whole city.”
Author: Commissioner Yarrick.